Come Back and I'll Make You Stay
by Nejitenness
Summary: "You shouldn't have let me go." "You should have come back. But you've never even tried to contact me after you left that day."
1. Chapter 1

"It's… not going to be easy, you know."

Neji didn't even spare her a glance. "What is it?"

Tenten rolled her eyes before stretching her tired legs and massaging her shoulders, secretly jealous at how her longtime partner had never had any problem with sore muscles even after a vigorous exercise. Or perhaps he was just so good at hiding; he was Neji after all. "What else? ANBU exam, of course."

"You still have doubts after all this time?"

"After going through extreme training with you for the past few months?" Tenten asked sarcastically, grabbing her water bottle near his empty one. "No, I don't."

"Good." The Hyuuga said smoothly. "Otherwise it would mean our training was fruitless."

"Whatever." The bun haired girl waved her hand in exasperation, having spent so much time with him that she knew it would be useless to throw him any negative remark. She gulped down the water and decided to keep silent while Neji continued his meditation.

As she watched him from the corner of her eyes, Tenten wondered if the fear she was feeling now was normal. If she had to be honest to herself, she was scared. She was scared even if she knew he didn't even feel the slightest of fear for himself. Hyuuga Neji was among the last people she would think of when someone mentioned "losing in a battle", if she forgot the Chuunin exam a few years ago when Uzumaki Naruto had magically beat him.

However, this was ANBU exam she was thinking about. If Chuunin exam was difficult, ANBU exam was tenfold—no, Gai had warned them it was twentyfold—harder and crueler. Not that she doubted Neji's strength. Not that she thought he wouldn't make it. There was just something that made her feel somewhat uneasy since he had asked her to help him train for the upcoming ANBU exam five months ago.

Tenten hadn't been surprised to hear he wanted to join ANBU. Hyuuga clan had high expectations of their prodigy. This even could be Neji's way to prove himself that he was worth _more_ than those proud Main Family members. She wasn't going to let him miss the opportunity, even if that meant he wouldn't go on missions with Team Gai anymore. She had to admit, though, the fact that she was going to miss their teamwork still undeniably bothered her.

"I need to go home now," his calm voice broke her wandering thoughts. "Do you?"

Tenten shook her head. "Hokage-sama wants to see me this evening. Seems that I'll have a solo mission tomorrow."

A smooth eyebrow rose. "When will you be back?"

"I don't know." She blew her bangs out of her eyes and turned to him, offering a small smile. "I'll be here when you're promoted as an ANBU."

Pale, pearlescent eyes gazed at her for full five seconds that she wondered what he was thinking. Just as she started to open her mouth to say something, he had stood up, his back and long dark hair facing her. "I hope you will."

Tenten grinned and rose to her feet join him. "Now you'd better take a shower, have a healthy dinner and go to bed early to get enough rest for tomorrow. Alright?"

Neji turned around, lips forming the familiar smirk. "You sound like an older sister."

"Well, I'm four months older than you," she said with a faked glare, both hands on her hips. "But honestly, someone needs to act like an older sister when you and Lee—"

Neji had pushed her against the tree behind her and captured her lips with his.

Tenten instantly forgot what she was going to say.

Her heart batted against her ribs as his lips, warm and smooth, moved against hers in such a way that made her knees grow weaker by each second. She wasn't sure he had ever been this close to her before, except perhaps, that one time years ago when he'd saved her from dying in a water prison. One of her moments with him that, by the way, she secretly would never forget.

She gasped for breath after he finally broke the kiss, brown eyes wide as Neji brought his hand up to stroke her cheek, a very gentle action compared to his kiss seconds ago.

"Thank you." He whispered, voice so soft that she had trouble convincing herself that this was the real Hyuuga Neji.

Forcing her brain to work was apparently a hard task. It took her a moment to realize that he was thanking her for helping him all this time. "I, uh…" she winced and cleared her throat when her voice sounded hoarse to her own ear, "anytime."

Neji nodded and they gazed at each other for a few moments. "See you."

The weapon specialist didn't know she was just standing there like a fool until she unconsciously blinked, surprised to find him already a few steps away. Shaking her head, Tenten called him, determined to say the words she had honestly prepared since this morning.

"Neji."

He stopped walking, waiting for her to continue.

Tenten smiled. "Good luck. I believe in you."

The Hyuuga finally looked at her over his shoulder, pale eyes somehow brighter than usual as the corner of his lips lifted to form a rare, small smile. "Thank you."

* * *

Tenten wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, sighing softly as she finally reached the front gates of Konoha. The mission had gone longer than intended and she had left the village for literally one month. Being a new Jounin, Tenten knew one month mission was probably nothing—older Jounin like Gai had been assigned to the longer ones, but it didn't make her feel any better. She was still too used to have Team Gai around when on a mission.

Now, she and Lee were already Jounin, and Neji was going to become—

"Tenten!"

—an ANBU.

Tenten nearly had a heart attack when a blur of green jumped toward her followed by a loud voice. "Tenten! Our precious lotus!"

She pushed the green mass away with a little more force than needed and glared at him. "Lee, what on earth—"

"I'm glad you're back, Tenten! I've been waiting for you since this morning to tell you about—"

"About another squirrel you found in the forest during training with Gai-sensei? I'll see it later, Lee, I need to find Neji first!"

"But Neji is on his ANBU training, Tenten!"

Tenten couldn't believe what she had just heard. "What?"

Round, black eyes were filled with tears of joy and excitement. "He passed the ANBU exam," Lee said. "The announcement was yesterday and just this morning, he went with his new team to train somewhere! Isn't he youthful, Tenten? This really motivates me to do my best! I shall become as strong as him! I—"

The fact that Neji had passed wasn't what surprised her.

"He's already left?" The brunette asked in disbelief. "The announcement was yesterday and he had to leave this morning?"

"Neji was being unyouthful as usual, he didn't tell me the details," Lee stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. "But ANBU is always full of secrets. He just couldn't let us know! Ah, why didn't I think about that? I shall not blame him!"

"I know that," Tenten murmured. She couldn't help but wish she had arrived earlier just so she could meet him before he went. They hadn't met since their kiss that evening after all. Wasn't it just normal for her to be anxious to see him? "When will he be back?"

"Three months, if I'm not mistaken."

Tenten closed her eyes. All the words she wanted to say would have to wait until three months from now. "Did Neji leave a word for me?"

Lee blinked. "Um… no?"

* * *

"Is something wrong, Tenten-san?"

Tenten looked back at Sakura, who had eyebrows raised in confusion. "Hm?"

"We're walking faster than we should be," the pink haired kunoichi said curiously. "Are you in a hurry?"

"I'm tired," Tenten said, deciding to not tell her friend the whole truth. Her mood improved when the familiar gates finally came in sight. "I want to get home soon to take a rest. After reporting the mission, of course. Will you be needed at the hospital after this?"

Sakura let out a sigh. "Don't remind me,"she grumbled, even though Tenten could catch the pretense in her answer. If anything, she knew Sakura had always loved her job at Konoha hospital. "Still, I'll go home first to… hey, who is that?"

Tenten blinked, trying to make out a figure standing at the entrance of the village. It was already dark that she needed a few moments to realize who it was.

Hyuuga Neji, in his ANBU uniform.

And her stomach fluttered.

"Oh, hello Neji-san," Sakura greeted first as they stopped before him.

Pale eyes stared at Tenten for a moment before they turned to the pink girl. The young man, being formal as usual, nodded politely. "Sakura-san."

Tenten had obviously not expected to see Neji here. She'd been impatient to finish her five-day mission because she knew Neji was supposed to be home already, after his exclusive ANBU training for three months long. She'd been afraid he would be assigned to his first mission by the time she was back.

And her worry was confirmed. He was clean in his uniform, looking ready to go.

Sakura clearing her throat was what made both Tenten and Neji blink and break their gazes as though they hadn't realized another presence there. "I guess I'll go now," the medic-nin said cheerfully. "I'll report the mission alone. Don't worry, Tenten-san, I'll tell Tsunade-sama you have something important to do."

Before the older kunoichi could say anything, Sakura had left them.

Tenten stared at her feet, feeling strangely uncomfortable. This was Neji, she reminded herself. This was the man that had been with her for almost seven years. This was the man that had kissed her that evening.

Now the last thought only worsened the condition. Tenten groaned inwardly—what actually happened to her? It shouldn't have been this awkward.

"Are you alright?"

Her head jerked up. "Yes," she said softly. "Are you?"

Neji nodded, and for the first time her eyes caught the sight of his ANBU tattoo on his bare, toned arm. She also saw a mask in his hand—a bird mask, if her eyes were correct. Her eyes traveled to his and she was just glad there was nothing changed about the pale color of his orbs and the way he looked at her.

"I have my first mission."

Tenten cleared her throat, swallowing her disappointment. "Alone?"

"With my team. They're waiting…" he stopped immediately, as if realizing he had almost leaked ANBU's top secret to her. "Somewhere."

"Oh," Tenten murmured, "good luck then."

"I'm going now," Neji said again, reaching out to brush a few strands of hair out of her eyes—and her world spun with just that little action—before turning around. "I'll see you later."

Tenten blinked and he was already gone.

* * *

"How many times should I tell you, honestly?" Tenten barked, shoving Lee none too gently into his hospital bed. "There will be no any kind of training until you are released! Didn't you listen to the doctor?"

The bowl haired man wailed. "I… I just need to do something, Tenten. O-or I could get weaker and—"

"A one week rest wouldn't make you any weaker!"

"—and I have to become stronger! Please, Tenten, let me do at least fifty push-ups and—"

Tenten put her hands on her hips. "And disappoint Sakura?"

Lee's eyes became rounder than what Tenten thought would be possible. "Sakura-san will be here?"

"Yes. She wouldn't be pleased to see you doing training despite the doctor's order."

Obediently, Lee tucked himself under his blankets.

The Weapon Mistress sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm going home now," she said. "Take a nap or something and don't do anything wrong unless you want to humiliate yourself in front of Sakura."

"Yosh, Tenten," Lee replied, but his eyes lingered on her that she arched an eyebrow defensively.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering when Neji will be back," he said, frowning in deep thoughts. "It's been four months, isn't it?"

The bun haired girl inhaled deeply. Her world turned gloomier all of a sudden. "Yes. Four months and ten days."

"If only he could let us know everything."

Glad that Lee didn't seem to notice that she'd been pathetically counting the days since Neji's departure, Tenten asked. "Do you… do you think he will be fine, Lee?"

"Of course." The taijutsu master's answer came in an instant, full of certainty and optimism that she lacked. "Don't worry about him. ANBU missions are rough, Tenten, but we shall not forget that Neji is really strong! He would be back without a scratch!"

She doubted that, but chose to smile instead. "You think so?"

"Sure. He's my eternal rival after all."

Tenten laughed, a forced one. "You're right. See you later."

She exited the room and shut the door, head full of Neji and his first ANBU mission. She was lying if she said she didn't miss him right now.

It had been practically eight months since their kiss that evening. Before this, they had always spent time together—be it a mission, a training session, or just a casual lunch, that it felt strange to not have him around for so long.

She hadn't even congratulated him for passing the exam yet.

Seven months shouldn't have felt like a long time when you were a busy Jounin. Tenten remembered how Sakura had waited for Naruto to come back from his training with the legendary Sannin for almost three years—if she remembered correctly. Three years. Eight months was nothing compared to three years.

But this was different, said Tenten inwardly as she tried to defend herself. She didn't know if he would be back in one piece. ANBU missions were cruel, regardless how strong Hyuuga Neji was. Tenten could only hope she was just worrying too much.

The Weapon Mistress was too absorbed in her thoughts that when she lifted her head she was surprised to see Neji, in his Jounin attire, standing there.

He was back in one piece. Other than a few small scars on his pale hands, a faint bruise on his chin, and his long hair that was a few inches shorter than the last time she'd seen it, Tenten knew she didn't have to worry about his well-being and that he had completed his first ANBU mission successfully.

"Neji?"

Half an hour later, instead of having lunch or just sitting on a bench to talk about what had happened during the past eight months, they both were already engaged in a sparring session. That was just the way they were: training and sparring and exercising would always come first, the talk and everything could wait.

The brunette kunoichi frowned, calculating Neji's movement and noticing how he had improved greatly after his ANBU training. He had become quicker, his Hyuuga jutsu looked smoother and his stamina was nearly impossible for her to keep up with. Tenten let out a shriek when he finally trapped her, holding her arms from behind that she couldn't move. A kunai in one of his hands was five centimeters away from her neck.

She heard more than saw his smirk as he lowered the kunai and loosened his grip on her. "Enough?" she asked sarcastically, ignoring the way she could hear his breathing clearly in her ear and how she could faintly feel the beat of his heart on her back that was pressed against his chest. Ignoring but wishing at the same time that he wouldn't pull away soon.

To her dismay, Neji stepped back and Tenten had to shake herself inwardly for being distracted. "That's enough for today."

They sat down under the usual tree side by side to catch breath and drink some water. Silence wasn't something new between them, yet this time Tenten couldn't help but wish he would speak first. There were so many things she wanted to ask him: his ANBU promotion, his special training, his mission and all. She also wanted to tell him about her own missions and how Lee had gotten himself being sent to hospital.

But there was something about Neji that felt slightly different. Tenten hadn't known if eight months apart could change the air between two usually-close people.

"Why were you at the hospital?"

Surprised but glad that he finally spoke first, Tenten quickly answered. "Lee was injured yesterday. Nothing fatal, but he was told to rest for a week."

"Gai-sensei?"

"He's doing well. I saw him disturbing Kakashi-sensei this morning."

Neji nodded, still not looking at her. "I haven't had a chance to thank you again."

"For what?"

"For helping me." Pearlescent orbs turned to her. "I wouldn't have made it without you."

She couldn't hold back her smile. "Well, I haven't congratulated you yet. Congratulations. I said I believed in you, didn't I?"

He gave a slight nod again. "How about lunch after this?"

Tenten shrugged, pretending she didn't notice the way he almost sounded unsure. She had a feeling it wasn't going to be the usual lunch—the thought honestly made her heart flutter a little, but more than that she was relieved, knowing he was going to talk about ANBU during their lunch, and soon everything would be normal again. "Why not?"

"Let me meditate first," he said, "you can sharpen your weapons if you want while waiting."

ANBU or not, Neji still loved meditating, she concluded. "I polished my weapons yesterday," she answered. Neji, of all people, should have known that she treated her weapons like they were her own children. "How about yours? Don't tell me you forget the last time you took care of your weapons."

He looked at her blankly. "I was going to tell you that."

"As expected," Tenten muttered. This was Neji after all, and unlike her who would be completely useless in battlefields without weapons, all he ever needed were his eyes and limbs only. "Give me those. I'll sharpen them for you."

Neji wordlessly took off his weapon pouch and handed it to her, and in an instant he had slipped into his meditation.

Tenten reached into his pouch, pulling out a few shuriken and kunai and arranging them neatly on the grass. Finding a small scroll tucked between the sharp things, she took it out as well and glanced briefly at Neji, wondering if he would mind if she took a look. Deciding that he wouldn't—or else he wouldn't have trusted his pouch to her—she unrolled the scroll.

Brown eyes widened and her fingers trembled as she scanned the words.

… _secret mission in the small village near Sunagakure…_

 _killed 13 people…_

 _tortured the leader to collect information…_

 _killed 3 more people involved…_

Her breathing quickened and she felt cold.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The scroll was snatched from her hands and the next thing Tenten knew was that Neji standing before her with a furious look on his face. Pearly eyes looked down at her and Tenten took several deep breaths before she stood up as well.

"Sorry. I didn't know I wasn't allowed to read it."

"Of course you're not." He said, eyes narrowing as if he was trying to suppress his anger. She knew he had never been this angry with her before, making her wonder if that was really him. "It's a secret and you're not supposed to read any of it."

"I wouldn't have read it if I knew it was a secret!" Tenten said defensively. "You're the one being careless. You shouldn't have brought it here in the first place."

Neji didn't say anything in response.

"You've changed," she said quietly. "It's been eight months only and I feel like you've changed. Tell me if I'm wrong."

His eyes closed and she gathered her courage.

"What did ANBU teach you, Neji? What have you learned from them?"

"That doesn't concern you."

"Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you—"

"They told you to not tell anyone that they have turned you into some kind of _killing machine_?"

He opened his eyes, shocked to hear her words. "Stop."

Tenten couldn't stop. The words _killing 13 people, torturing, killing 3 more people_ swirled in her head. "That they have turned you into a heartless shinobi? And they told you to distance yourself from your non-ANBU friends?"

"Stop it!"

By now Neji was controlling his breathing, fists clenched at both sides, showing that he was trying to regain his composure.

Tenten had to admit she was a little scared. She had always known Neji would never hurt her, but at that time she was afraid he would explode. For a moment she almost regretted her words, but her heart whispered that he did need to know.

He needed to know that he had changed.

Without another word, Neji turned away and left the place.

Shutting her eyes in frustration, Tenten leaned back to the tree behind her, the tree he had pinned her against when he had kissed her eight months ago.

* * *

 **(A/N):** Instead of updating _You Know Who I Am,_ I suddenly had the urge to write down this idea before everything evaporated from my head. It's going to be four chapters only, though. Review?


	2. Chapter 2

Tenten hummed a happy song as she entered her favorite restaurant. Lee had promised he would treat her to a special dinner and that he would arrive before her. The taijutsu master had indeed reserved a table in the corner—she could see him grinning and waving energetically as he saw her coming.

The brunette smiled; she had always appreciated every little time she could have with her best friend. They were twenty three now, Lee being the teacher of a young Genin team and Tenten alternating between doing missions and managing her small weapon shop. They barely had time to spend with each other.

It was still nothing, though, considering she hadn't even talked to Neji since that afternoon at the training field.

Five years had passed since that time and their communication had stopped entirely. During all those years, they had only met probably nine or ten times, Tenten had never even bothered to count, and all those times they had always avoided each other's gaze.

Neji's promotion to ANBU was undeniably what had made Team Gai broken. Both Tenten and Neji, however, never had any problem with Lee and Gai and still talked to them. The two green men hadn't been happy to find out that Neji and Tenten had fallen out without knowing the reason. They had tried to fix everything but had always failed—Tenten was too stubborn and Neji could be barely seen in the village most of the time, disappearing into his ANBU team.

Even the two optimistic Green Beasts had finally stopped trying.

"Hello, Lee," Tenten greeted him cheerfully. She sat on the sitting cushion across from him. "Am I late?"

"Of course you are not, Tenten," the taijutsu master beamed with joy, pushing a cup of tea in front of her. "How are you? And how is the most youthful weapon shop in Konoha? My students wanted to buy new weapons and I told them to go find you!"

"Yeah, they showed up yesterday," Tenten laughed. "We even had a talk about you as their teacher."

One of Lee's students was a hyperactive boy, exactly like his sensei except his eyebrows were considered normal and his hair wasn't that shiny. Tenten had no doubt her old friend had brainwashed the poor boy into wearing the same ridiculous green suit and cutting his hair into the same bowl style as his. The other member of the team was a cheerful girl with dimples on her cheeks, and the last one was a grumpy boy who most of the time wore a bored expression.

Tenten smiledwryly—they pretty much reminded her of her former Genin team.

Just wait until ANBU exam comes, she thought sadly. She didn't know if teammates were bound to fall apart in the end, but that was what happened to her team.

Lee's voice interrupted her musings. "Did they? What did they tell you? Did they say something about—"

At that time a waitress appeared and asked them what they would like to order. Before Tenten could open her mouth, Lee shook his head politely and grinned at the girl. "We shall order the food in a few minutes."

The waitress nodded and turned away.

Tenten shot him a questioning look. "A few minutes? I don't know about you but honestly, Lee, I'm starving."

"I am sorry, Tenten," Lee said apologetically, "but we're still waiting for one more person to come!"

"What?" She glared at him. "Don't tell me you invited some random guy you just met at Ichiraku yesterday. The last time you—"

"No, it's not a stranger again this time, it's—oh, there he is!"

Tenten turned her head over her shoulder to see someone who wasn't supposed to be a stranger coming from the entrance. The cup in her hand nearly dropped to her lap.

Neji.

Their eyes met for a brief moment before she looked away. Tenten was sure she saw him as shocked as she was, not expecting her to be there. Lee must've had tricked him too.

The two men had probably switched roles: Neji now was a fool while Lee was the genius one. Apparently Neji wasn't alone because she herself was stupid too, for not having any suspicion before that the dinner invitation was actually a part of Lee's game. What did he actually want?

She lost her precious trust in Lee that had been built over the years.

"Lee," Tenten hissed at him, "what the hell? You didn't tell me—"

Lee ignored her. He stood up and waved the way one would stand on the deck of a ship and wave at people at the dock. "Neji! Here! Here!" This, of course, attracted a few people's attention.

Tenten thought Neji would leave after seeing her but it seemed that he kept going. _No_ , she thought frantically, _oh no, he was coming nearer_.She tucked a few strands of chocolate brown hair behind her ear nervously, and _unconsciously_ looked down to inspect her outfit.

"Ah, Neji, it's incredibly nice to see you again!" The boisterous man exclaimed happily. "Please sit down!"

She literally froze when Lee shifted to the empty seat beside him. Neji now only had two choices; sitting beside her or across from her.

During their Genin and Chuunin years, he would always sit next to her while Lee and Gai-sensei would be at the opposite side of the table. It was only natural in their daily life that he would be _with her_ when it came to things like this.

Now Tenten didn't know which one he would choose. She hadn't anticipated this at all, she didn't know what to do and—

—he sat down across from her.

Didn't he know that it would be hard for both of them to eat while having the other sitting right before their eyes?

 _Relax_ , Tenten told herself. _Don't give Lee any satisfaction by looking so… err, thrilled by this._

Not that she was thrilled. No.

The kunoichi chose to sip her tea quietly and didn't lift her head when Neji sat down. Even if she avoided his face, though, she could still practically see him—wearing common black long sleeve shirt and Jounin vest. Her heart pounded in anxiety; this was the first time in five years she was so close to him. She had forgotten how it felt to have him near; she had forgotten how he smelled, how his pearly orbs looked like, how his voice sounded, and how his presence used to brighten her day since she was twelve.

She had forgotten how his lips had tasted when he'd kissed her that evening years ago.

Lee eventually broke the awkward situation and Tenten had never been happier to hear his voice before. "Do you want herring soba, Neji? I remember you always liked it!"

"Yes."

Tenten bit her lip. She hadn't heard his voice in ages… She hadn't heard…

"And what do you want, Tenten?"

She forced her herself to answer as flatly as she could. "Anything."

It seemed that her friend understood her dark mood because he didn't ask anything again. He called the previous waitress and mentioned their order, ignoring the tension between the two silent victims. Tenten busied herself with staring at the empty table next to theirs, knowing that he was doing the same, looking at anywhere but her.

 _This is bad._

After the waitress disappeared from the sight, Lee turned to Neji.

"How are you, Neji? Is everything well in ANBU?"

"Yes."

"And Tenten. You haven't told me about your weapon shop! Is it true that Hokage-sama ordered thousands of kunai from you?"

"Yes."

"I'll let Gai-sensei know! He definitely will be proud of you! You know, Gai-sensei told me that…"

And it turned out that during the dinner, Lee practically was the only one who talked. If someone noticed, they probably would've thought the other two were mute.

Lee acted as if there was nothing wrong between his friends, as if they were still the old Team Gai. He told them everything—how Gai almost defeated his rival Kakashi, the specialty of his Genin students, his encounter with Gaara of the Sand last month, and so on. Tenten and Neji would only nod or give a halfhearted comment like "oh", "really?", or "I see" every once in a while. Lee would sometimes ask them questions: what do you think about Naruto's new haircut? Where did you buy those youthful bracelets, Tenten? I haven't visited you in Hyuuga compound for years, Neji, are the curtains still plain white?

It was a pure torture for Tenten. She tried to look down the whole time because it was impossible to look at Lee without having to look at Neji too. When she had left home that evening, she hadn't expected she would meet the last person she wanted to _think_ about. It didn't help that she knew nothing about how he felt—was this situation hard for him too?

He was an _ANBU_ after all.

When Lee was babbling about how his students were now able to do five hundred push-ups and five hundred sit-ups in a row, Tenten reached out to grab teapot.

Her hand met Neji's, who apparently wanted to refill his cup too.

Shocked, Tenten pulled back her hand and her eyes automatically met his. He looked startled too as their gazes met, but averted his eyes the moment she did, pretending he was concentrating on what Lee was saying.

Neither made a move to reach for the pot after that.

Tenten inhaled deeply. She had just seen his eyes clearly, still the same cold pale orbs with a tinge of lavender. His face, still the same oval shape with the same firm jaw.

And she had touched his hand, the hand that had been used to take the lives of countless enemies… _No, don't think about that right now._

"What's wrong, Tenten?"

Without lifting her gaze, she shook her head with a small smile. "Nothing."

Lee seemed to buy it and went on talking.

Tenten chewed her lower lip. Their slight contact only made her… want to look at him again.

She had gone insane. There must've been something in her food that made her unable to think rationally: she had to look at him again. And she did.

Her gaze once again met Neji's, who surprisingly, unexpectedly, had just turned his head to look at her, too—completely horrified and mortified, they quickly tore their gaze away again.

Tenten felt heat creeping up her cheeks as she gripped her chopsticks too hard that they nearly broke. She hadn't expected he would steal a glance at her too. Was he also suffering from inner conflicts right now?

 _Stop being pathetic_ , Tenten thought as she shoved a piece of fish into her mouth casually, pretending that their _unintentional_ eye contact had nothing to do with the current increase of her heartbeat.

The awkward forty five minutes was practically a lot harder to endure than five years without him, Tenten concluded when the dinner was finally, thankfully over. Whatever Lee wanted from them, he actually failed—if he thought a simple dinner would make her and Neji finally talk to each other, he was wrong.

Neji was too stubborn and prideful. She, too, wasn't going to surrender.

Lee paid for everything as promised and they walked out together. The weapon specialist nearly sighed when cool air greeted them outside. The street was quiet that night and she took a deep refreshing breath. The restaurant hadn't been that crowded, but for some reason she'd felt like she was suffocating the whole time.

"That was wonderful!" Lee exclaimed brightly when the restaurant was already behind them. "We should have dinner together more often, don't you think?"

He was answered by no one.

Being Rock Lee, he wasn't offended at all. Instead he grinned widely to show his perfectly white teeth and presented them with his famous thumbs-up. "I am absolutely pleased that you two came. See you later!"

The next second he was already running away, shouting something about youth Tenten couldn't catch.

Said woman was too shocked that she didn't realize her mouth was hanging open. She really was going to kill him tomorrow—after tearing his green suit collection into shreds, of course, with a sharp kunai right before his eyes.

It took her a minute before she realized her current situation. It was just her and Neji. It had been too long since it was just her and Neji.

She didn't have any choice. Their eyes met again and Tenten, wanting this to end quickly, decided to swallow her pride first and speak to him.

"See you later."

She was ready to turn away, but his voice stopped her. "I'm not the only one who changed."

The first thing came into her mind was that his voice sounded different now, deeper and perhaps a bit _colder_. The second, she couldn't believe in her own ears—was Hyuuga Neji really speaking to her? "Sorry?"

"You've changed too."

Fists clenching at both sides, Tenten fixed him with an unfriendly look. "You cannot say that," she said, "since you haven't even talked to me for five years. You don't know what I've been doing."

His pale orbs, looking different under the dim streetlight, didn't show any emotion whatsoever. "I still think you've changed."

Tenten took a deep breath, collecting her composure, holding back the urge to tell him that she changed because _he_ changed. "People change, _Neji-san_. Deal with it."

His eyebrows rose, probably at the suffix she used. Tenten noticed from his expression that he wasn't offended in the slightest; instead he looked like he was challenging her to a fight. She should've known better, she thought. There was no way he would swallow his pride and ask her to fix the ruined things together.

Dark brown eyes closed; she was too tired to fight, she really was. "Good night."

She left him the way he had left her that afternoon at training field.

* * *

 **(A/N):** "Are the curtains still plain white, Neji?" That was honestly my favorite line ever. Not gonna lie, I had too much fun writing this. Now I do need to write other NejiTen awkward moments!

On a side note, someone asked me what the f- Tenten expects when no one is left without change. Well, that's the point of the story. She knows that ANBU changes people and she isn't going to stop him, yet she doesn't want him to change; sort of inner conflict and frustration. If Tenten understands and accepts his changes… then everything is alright and I don't think it'd be enough to become a story?

Anyway, before you grow to hate Tenten in this story: their problem isn't completely her fault, believe me. Please tell me your thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

Tenten watched Neji secretly as she sipped her punch and snorted when she saw him avoiding her gaze purposely.

It was Naruto's birthday and here she was, standing in the corner, in an uncomfortable pink dress, alone, because Lee had just left her for whatever antics he wanted to display with Gai as usual.

She wasn't a loner or an outsider. She could easily join her other friends and under normal circumstances she would have done that. But Neji was there along with their old comrades and she just couldn't; she wanted to maintain distance with him.

"You could burn something with that glare."

Tenten almost jumped, brown eyes turning to Sakura who had just appeared out of nowhere. The pink haired kunoichi was smirking at her knowingly. "Am I right, Tenten?"

"More like someone." She corrected flatly, sending the pompous man across the rooma bitter look.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Your old teammate? That Hyuuga ANBU?"

"That Hyuuga ANBU," Tenten mumbled under her breath. Apparently people couldn't talk about him without bringing up the ANBU title. Neji who? Of course Neji the ANBU, not Neji the Hyuuga prodigy or Neji the ice cube man anymore. "Who else?"

"He glances at you when you aren't looking."

Tenten turned to Sakura in mild exasperation. "Don't be _delusional_ ," she said dryly, "he doesn't even care that I'm here."

The medic-nin shrugged casually. "I just caught him looking at you."

The Weapon Mistress exhaled in exhaustion. "It's impossible, Sakura. We—we haven't talked for five years."

"I know. It's the fifteenth time I'm asking you this, what actually happened between you two?"

Tenten knew her face turned more pathetic by each second. "I cannot tell you."

"Too bad," Sakura commented. "I thought I could help."

The brunette smiled weakly, looking into her half-empty glass. "I don't think you can even help me."

If Lee couldn't do anything about this, of course no one else could.

None of her friends knew the truth behind Team Gai's breakup. Tenten had never wanted to tell them anything. They must've had asked Neji too, but as far as she was concerned, he could be far more stubborn than her and it wasn't his nature to share his personal problems with anyone, friends or not.

About one month ago, after his failed attempt at arranging a dinner for them, Lee had apologized to her and admitted that he just wanted his two best friends to talk again. It was killing him, he had said. Tenten had said nothing, but at least she had cancelled her plan to destroy all his green clothes in front of his eyes.

Certainly Neji had been annoyed at him too, but Lee didn't say anything about that.

Sakura smiled sympathetically. "Well, I'll leave you here. That idiot Naruto, he must be looking for me."

Tenten only grunted as a reply.

From the corner of her eyes she saw Neji chatting with Inuzuka Kiba. Unlike that time during the dinner, there weren't any awkward moments between them—her and Neji. Neji was having too much fun with _their_ friends to even remember her existence. And she, she was standing alone like a miserable loner who had no friends. Tenten almost growled at how unfair it was—this wasn't her at all, it was Neji who she remembered was an unsociable, aloof, emotionally detached man!

"Hey."

She was about to snap at whoever it was when a tall man with bored expression appeared before her. Tenten recognized the pineapple head and lazy eyes he owned. She had been assigned to the same mission as Nara Shikamaru a few times during their Genin and Chuunin years. However after he had joined ANBU along with Neji five years ago, they had only met each other a couple of times. At least, though, they would smile and nod politely when running across each other, not avoiding each other's eyes like she and Neji would do.

"Your former teammate asked me to inform you that he needed to take your drunk ex **-** teacher home."

"What?" Tenten asked in disbelief, wondering how on earth she hadn't seen them leaving—had she been too busy with her thoughts? "They left without telling me first?"

Shikamaru only shrugged as a reply.

Inhaling deeply and making a mental note to beat Lee up again tomorrow, Tenten couldn't help but think it had been a wrong decision to attend the party in the first place. "I think I should go home then."

"I'm going to leave, too," the Nara heir said, glancing at the crowd who was laughing and cheering at something Tenten didn't even bother to find out. "This is troublesome enough."

Tenten smiled and shrugged. "It's Naruto's party, what do you expect?" she said. "See you later, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru's thin eyebrow lifted. "We could walk home together, you know."

The brunette laughed. "Sure. Come on, I really need some fresh air."

It was a relief when they were finally outside. Tenten immediately felt much better as they started to walk along the empty street.

"What happened to your team?"

The weapon specialist blinked, not expecting him to start a conversation, let alone about that topic. If she remembered correctly, Shikamaru wasn't so different with Neji in the way they had never given a damn about other people's business. "Why do you ask?"

"Hyuuga Neji and I are on the same ANBU team," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Tenten had forgotten everything about Neji entirely since they had left the party. Shikamaru practically ruined her good mood just by mentioning his name. "Why don't you ask him then? You've spent the last five years with him."

"Do you really think he would tell me?"

She sighed and shook her head. "No."

Shikamaru was silent for a long time. "Well… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you. Troublesome, but that's not my business at all. Forget it."

"How does it feel?"

"What?"

"How does it feel," Tenten repeated, "to be an ANBU?"

Shikamaru looked taken aback by her question. Tenten herself had to admit she was surprised; the question kind of had slipped out of her mouth. But he was waiting for an explanation, and she might as well continue it.

"Your job isn't easy. Your job is to kill more enemies than an ordinary Jounin is required to. It would be much safer and easier for you to be like me, or a teacher like Lee. Why do you—"

"I have people who will always be there for me. My parents, my teachers, my close friends, and Temari," he said. Tenten was vaguely amused that he didn't include Temari as his friend but didn't want to mention her as his girlfriend either. "I don't have to ask for their support."

"But you don't have much time for them, do you?"

Shikamaru shrugged again. "Whenever given a week off, I would spend time with them as efficiently as I could."

Tenten still didn't get it. "Is that what… makes you strong enough to stay in ANBU until now?"

"Their support matters so much to me. That's all an ANBU would ever need. Our harsh job isn't something everyone will accept, Tenten, but once we have people who believe in us, that will be enough."

ANBU needed support. ANBU needed people who trusted them.

The kunoichi shut her eyes, trying to not hear the voices in her head.

"Well?"

"Well," she echoed, "I guess—"

"Nara."

Both Tenten and Shikamaru turned around to find Neji, standing a few feet away with an expression Tenten failed to read. What was he doing here?

"Hyuuga," Shikamaru greeted back with very poor enthusiasm that would have disappointed Lee. Tenten's jaw almost dropped at what she heard. They still addressed each other by family's name even after five years being on the same team? They must've had a serious problem in themselves. "Are you going home?"

Neji didn't answer his friend's question. "Hokage-sama is looking for you," he said. "Important."

From the corner of her eyes, Tenten could see the younger man almost groan before he asked. "Now?"

"Now."

Shikamaru mumbled something about troublesomeness along the lines and ran a hand over his face. "Very well." Glancing between her and Neji with a secretive smile, he waved at her briefly. "It was nice to talk to you. See you later."

Tenten could only blink when he was finally out of sight.

It took her only a second to silently curse at Shikamaru for leaving her alone with Neji. Thankfully, though, she managed to not look startled as Neji broke the silence.

"What were you two talking about?"

"Excuse me?" Tenten asked back, trying to hide her surprise.

Pale eyes looked at her piercingly as he repeated—and Tenten knew very well that Neji hated repeating himself. "What were you two talking about?"

"What…" she trailed off, irritation slowly building up. They hadn't talked in ages—in ages, because their conversation after the damned dinner with Lee that time didn't count—and he asked what she and Shikamaru had talked about? "That's none of your business!"

"He is my friend," he said, voice still calm as ever compared to her own.

"Your friend?" Tenten snapped. "In case you didn't know, _Neji-san_ , he is _my_ friend as well. He still thinks of me as his friend even though I clearly am not on his ANBU team!"

"I didn't even bring up ANBU in this conversation," Neji raised his tone, anger slowly flashed across his features. "Will you please stop relating ANBU to everything?"

"What do you expect? ANBU has separated us and I hate them!"

His face turned expressionless by this. Tenten thinned her lips.

"Is that what you think?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you denying it? ANBU took you away from…" Tenten paused for a while and swallowed hard. _From me._ "Team Gai. They took you away from Team Gai."

"It's just because you let that happen."

"Of course I let that happen, I needed to give up on you!" Dark eyes stared at him furiously. "There was nothing else to do. Once you join ANBU, you'll change permanently. But do you really think I would be that selfish to try to change your mind so you could stay with me and Lee instead?"

There was a long silence before his quiet reply came. "I could've joined ANBU without really leaving you. But you let me go." A strange feeling engulfed her when he said this. "You shouldn't have let me go."

"You should have come back," she whispered back. "But you've never even tried to contact me after you left that day. Of course, since there are far better girls out there."

His eyes narrowed only slightly, but she saw it. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know what you've been doing all these years," she continued. "I don't even know how many women you've been with all this time."

Lee had never told her anything about Neji's love life after he'd left, and she had never tried to find out either.

"Why do you—"

"ANBU or not, you are still human, Neji," she cut him off. "You wander from place to place, meet new people every time, and who knows what you do when you don't have to hunt down enemies or be involved in a massacre?"

"I don't understand why you feel the need to talk about this," he said harshly.

Tenten herself had gone out with at least two shinobi after Neji had left. Still, she had never wanted to try a deeper relationship with any of them. First, she didn't think there was a man who would be okay with her decision to focus on her career rather than spending time with him. Between training, doing missions, and running her weapon business, she honestly didn't have much time.

Second, being with them just didn't feel right to her. When they went out to dinner, when they laughed and smiled at each other, when they kissed… There was always a voice in her head, whispering that this wasn't what she wanted, that the person wasn't who she wanted.

Whether Neji knew about her brief relationships with them or not, Tenten wasn't completely sure.

Unless if he couldn't forget their kiss long ago and decided to ask Lee about her. That could only happen if their kiss meant something to him…. perhaps, just _perhaps,_ like it did to her.

"Why did you kiss me that time, Neji?"

His pearlescent eyes widened. His expression told her he wanted to say something, and Tenten waited, in hope he would give her any explanation—anything, as long as he said something. She wouldn't mind if he in fact had dated a lot of women prettier than her, as long as he said something, something about _their_ kiss.

He said nothing.

Tenten tried hard to swallow her obvious disappointment. "See? You can't even say anything about that. I can imagine you're doing the same to other girls you've met all this time."

He still stood there, unmoving, until she concluded that he didn't even try to deny her words. His refusal to say anything only proved that he had really done that: being with any girl he met during the time he was away from the village, only to leave and forget her when he had to run to another place.

She probably was just one of them. She should've known better.

"I will forget it, too," she said. "Let's pretend that we've never done anything, alright? Goodbye."

Tenten decided to leave first again.

* * *

Some time had passed since that night.

It was already dark when Tenten almost reached the Konoha gates, having just come back from a one-day mission. After yawning a few times, she tried to quicken her pace, struggling to keep her eyes open while promising herself to go to her warm bed as soon as she reached home.

It wasn't long until she had to become alert all of a sudden, sensing a presence not far behind her. Her hand had reached into her pocket to flick out a kunai when someone shouted from behind.

"Help!"

Tenten squinted as a figure appeared from darkness. Her grip on the kunai tightened in case there was an attack coming.

The sight of the mysterious person became clear as he came nearer. Tenten was relieved to see that he was a Konoha ANBU. She could faintly see that blood stained his uniform, but her attention shifted to the form he was holding. Her eyes widened when she noted that the unconscious man was also an ANBU.

"Help me," the man with fox mask said as he lowered his friend's body to the ground. "Please find medical nin for him. I don't have time."

"But—"

"And report this to Hokage-sama," he added hastily. "Quick. He's losing too much blood."

Tenten had only nodded when the ANBU vanished in a puff of smoke.

Panicked, Tenten crouched down to check the man's condition, wondering how on earth she was going to bring the man whose body was almost twice as hers to hospital. To her surprise, he wasn't unconscious; his trembling hand rose to touch her arm.

"I'll help you," she said reassuringly, noticing that the man had his chest wounded badly and his uniform soaked in red. "Don't wo—"

Her hand froze when she caught the sight of his hair.

It was almost familiar—and everything else about him suddenly became familiar. She knew too well that no one possessed that long, silky dark hair but him. Tenten's heart thumped loudly in her chest as she took his bird mask off. Please, anyone but him, anyone but—

— _Neji._

It was Neji.

* * *

 **(A/N):** Let me hear something!


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